album review: "crystal castles" by crystal castles

i used to love crimewave a lot and someone on here recently reminded me that these guys exist. i have never listened to the full album, only like 5 songs off it so i'm excited for the nostalgia :) i'll be doing a track by track review but it won't be super intellectual or deep unless i really fw the song.

enjoy! 

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"untrust us" - 2.5/5

nothing crazy or super inspiring about this track. it's easy to listen to, good background music. 

"alice practice" - 1.0/5 

is this what started the "anti-music" genre? fr tho i did not like this it was super overstimulating. 

"crimewave" - 4.5/5

NOW we're getting to the stuff i like. i love this song. the first time i heard it was in 2020 and it was my fav song for 2 years after that. i love the poppy synth notes. the vocal effects as well. all of the parts of this song, the instruments, the vocals, the synths, the percussion, all of it, it all comes together so well to create a dark and moody tone. no surprise why it's their most popular song; it's just that good. 

"magic spells" - 3.0/5

again, nothing super crazy or cool about this track, to me at least. just kinda background music. i can imagine the last half being in a "lo-fi songs to study to" video just on loop lol. easy listening, essentially. 

"xxzxcuzx me" - 1.5/5

back on the "anti-music" stuff. uhmm...yeah idk i just don't like it. it's not as bad as "alice practice" because it actually has a beat this time, but i'm still just not a fan.

"air way" - 2.5/5

like the instrumental a lot. the vocals over it, which im assuming are a sample from something, i feel like don't really add much to this song. the instrumental is really good in my opinion and i wish there was some actual singing and vocals on it rather than some looped sample track. the last part of it is the most interesting. 

"courtship dating" - 4.0/5

liked it from the second it started. good instrumental and the synths all work well together. the overly happy vocals i find kinda funny. not in a bad way, they work super well in this track, in my opinion. this is a fun track, i enjoy it. 

"good time" - 2.5/5 

i find the melody kinda annoying. other than that, i don't feel any certain way about this track.

"1991" - 3.5/5

funky lil instrumental. i just generally love the way these two layered their synths and the way the way tracks like this have so much detail in them. 

"vanished" - 4.5/5 

another banger. close close CLOSE second to crimewave in terms of how much i like it. i like the bridge the most. i always love the bridge... the instrumental isn't all that crazy but i just love love loveeeeee the vocals. i find the way this song and crimewave to be calming and just really interesting. 

"knights" - 3.5/5

i honestly can't think of much to say other than i just like this track. unless anyone wants me to write a paragraph about synths again lol 

"love and caring" - 3.0/5

way better than the other two tracks with similar vocals. i find the much darker instrumental to actually blend really well with the vocals. 

"through the hosirey" - 2.0/5

similar to courtship dating. a little too similar. it doesn't really add anything that courtship dating didn't add to this album already. the instrumental is faster than all the tracks before this one, which i take interest in. i honestly don't have any strong thoughts about this track.

"reckless" - 3.5/5

another pure instrumental. i like it more than 1991. i find it more on par with "vanished" in terms of the vibe and general pattern of tones.

"black panther" - 2.0/5

just... too similar to the other two tracks with the overly dramatic vocals. they do it twice? sure, whatever. but three times with a very similar melody as well? it just gets boring.

"tell me what to swallow" - 1.5/5

it's literally just an instrumental but it's not interesting at all

safe to say, i don't see the vision with this album. it's extremely diverse in sound, but i don't really know if that's a good thing. there isn't consistency with the quality of the songs. some of them, like "alice practice" sound like they were mixed in 10 minutes tops, while others like "reckless" are detail oriented and have substance despite not having any vocals. i can see this album for what it is, an experimental popelectro album. that's all i can see it as. i don't think this album will really be memorable to me at all, even with good tracks like "crimewave." 

i know this might ruffle some feathers because crystal castles is regarded as a sort of big contributor to the 8-bit/synthpop genre but i personally don't think this album is something i would listen to on a daily, or even weekly basis. 

all that being said, it's not a bad album. it's a good debut and a solid introduction to what crystal castles was as a band at the time. 

i would give this album a solid 2.5/5.